Rishi Sunak has emerged as the winner for seven weeks after losing to Liz Truss in the first Tories election this year. He is now the new British Prime Minister. Competitor Penny Mordaunt gave up her candidacy on Monday. Sunak, son of Indian immigrants, becomes Britain’s first ethnic minority prime minister.
Shortly before the deadline for nominating candidates, Mordaunt withdrew from the party race for prime minister, she announced Monday. Sunak had previously secured his nomination with 100 MPs backing him.
Clear the way for Sunak
Ex-Prime Minister Boris Johnson surprisingly withdrew from the race on Sunday evening. The now unparalleled 42-year-old winner of the internal elections of the Conservatives, who make up the government, will also take over as prime minister. “Rishi Sunak has been elected head of the Conservative Party,” confirmed the head of the responsible parliamentary faction committee, Graham Brady, in London. The Tory party is seeking new leadership for the second time in months after outgoing Prime Minister Truss left office after six unprecedentedly chaotic weeks under pressure from her party.
Warned of financial chaos under Truss
Sunak presented himself as a candidate who can unite the party. Most recently, Commerce Secretary Kemi Badenoch and ex-Interior Minister Suella Braverman, two leading politicians from the party’s right-wing, had backed him. The 42-year-old benefits from the fact that in the party’s internal election campaign for party leadership against Truss over the summer, he warned of the very financial chaos the incumbent prime minister caused with her economic policies during her short term in office.
However, experts point out that Sunak does not have the support of the entire party and faction. Many members accuse him of causing the popular Johnson’s downfall by stepping down as Treasury Secretary. In addition, critics point to the wealth of what is arguably Britain’s richest MP. The former investment banker is married to the daughter of Infosys founder, who owns hundreds of millions of pounds in the Indian IT giant.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
